Max Baucus: “when I came to the Senate a few years back, one of the first bills I introduced was the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, to…”

“when I came to the Senate a few years back, one of the first bills I introduced was the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, to protect taxpayers in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. At that time I noted: Oliver Wendell Holmes reasoned that ``Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.'' However, Justice Holmes did not consider additional burdens imposed on taxpayers--added costs and delays that result from inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the administration of tax law. That was back in 1979. And it took a while, but we finally scored a big win in 1988 with the enactment of a comprehensive Taxpayer Bill of Rights. That went a long ways toward defining taxpayer rights and providing protection against arbitrary actions by the IRS. The Taxpayers' Bill of Rights required the IRS to give at least 30 days written notice before levying on a taxpayers' property, so that he or she would have time to file an appeal. It expanded the kinds of property exempt from IRS levies, and raised the wage total exempt from collection. It allowed taxpayers to collect costs and attorney's fees from the Government if the IRS was not substantially justified in bringing an action. And it let taxpayers sue the Government for damages if IRS employees acted recklessly in collecting taxes or intentionally disregarded any provision of the Internal Revenue Code. These were important steps toward accountability and fairness. But they did not solve all the problems.…”